Responsibilities
1. Business Planning: Lead on the financial aspects of the long‑term strategic plan of the various Corporate departments as an integral part of the ongoing cycle for preparing annual business plans.
2. Budget Setting: Lead the team to produce and maintain a robust, rolling five‑year budget for Corporate departments, involving complex calculations and generating working papers that link budgets to capacity and financial plans, supporting the annual sign‑off process by budget managers before the start of each year.
3. Reporting Cycle: Support Head of Strategic Finance by leading the team through the monthly financial management timetable, ensuring financial duties are completed efficiently and that strict reporting deadlines are adhered to, delegating tasks to the team as appropriate.
4. Manage Staff: Manage a supporting team of one Management Accountant and one Assistant Management Accountant, lead technical development of staff within the section, and undertake appraisals in accordance with Trust policy.
5. Reporting: Produce financial reports for Corporate departments, attend any Corporate department‑wide meetings as the finance lead and, in the absence of Head of Strategic Finance, attend Board and committee meetings as required.
6. General Advice/Support: Provide financial advice and support for all Corporate departments, consistent with Trust policies and financial position.
7. Team Member: Be an active member of the Financial Management Team to stay fully appraised of key issues, including finances, performance and risk.
8. Decision‑Making: Provide comprehensive advice to aid management decisions, ensuring all information provided by the team is of a high professional standard, timely and accurate, and that correct financial principles are adhered to.
9. Budget Control: Advise and provide guidance to all relevant staff on managing budgets effectively and achieving financial targets, support managers in developing, reporting and monitoring the achievement of CIP, proactively identify areas for investigation/improvement, and ensure budget management framework is followed for overspending budgets including overseeing variance analysis, drawing up rectification plans and escalating as appropriate.
10. Queries: Answer and respond to complex finance queries, liaising with Head of Strategic Finance if necessary; delegate areas to be investigated as appropriate.
11. Forecasts: Produce year‑end expenditure projections on a monthly basis and lead responsibility for agreeing Corporate forecasts with Executive Director leaders.
12. Efficiency: Use expert knowledge, complex data and financial models to evaluate potential savings from CIP and transformation projects for Corporate departments, ensuring that the agreed CIP savings are reflected in the financial ledger where appropriate.
13. SLR/PLiCS: Ensure the costs of Corporate departments are accurately apportioned within SLR/PLiCS, liaising with Head of Income & Costing as appropriate.
14. Corporate Benchmark Returns: Lead the Trust response to any benchmarking returns required for Corporate services, including any information required for wider back‑office collaboration across the STP.
15. Business Cases: Lead on the financial aspects of business cases for all Corporate departments, ensuring completion in a timely fashion.
16. Annual Accounts: Lead on coordinating accurate completion of the Trust final accounts process for the Corporate departments, ensuring tasks are completed in line with the year‑end timetable as required by the Financial Services Manager.
17. Depute: Provide support and deputise for Head of Strategic Finance as required.
18. Finance Strategy: Play an integral role in driving forward the departmental financial strategy, embracing Future‑Focused Finance, participate in departmental meetings and contribute to the Trust senior finance team and support other colleagues as appropriate, and contribute to the formulation and implementation of financial policy and procedure amendments and reviews.
19. Cross‑Cutting: Lead for ensuring delivery of progress against Future‑Focused Finance requirements, acting as a champion for the wider finance department.
20. Qualification: Responsible for maintaining CCAB professional status, keeping up to date with developments in the field and ensuring compliance with continuing professional development requirements.
21. Other: Undertake other similar duties consistent with the level of responsibilities outlined above.
22. Change: This job description may be reviewed from time to time in light of developments and may be amended in consultation with the post holder.
Person specification
Qualifications and Education
* Qualified CCAB Accountant or CIMA
* Evidence of continuing professional development (particular focus on leadership development)
Communication Skills
Essential criteria
* Experience of providing financial support and advice, including development of structured ideas and solutions to improve efficiency and reduce costs for Directorates.
* To be able to demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills.
* To be able to communicate effectively and appropriately with people at all levels of the organisation, and to have worked effectively and professionally within a Finance Department.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of working in partnership with General Managers, Executive Directors and other senior Trust‑wide staff.
Knowledge and Training
Essential criteria
* To be able to demonstrate excellent numerical and analytical skills to carry out and respond to complex financial queries.
* Ability to use a sophisticated computerised general ledger system (e.g. IB Solutions).
* Evidence of advanced skills in utilising computer packages together to produce results for complex queries.
Desirable criteria
* Good understanding of the internal operational workings of an Acute Hospital.
Experience
Essential criteria
* Proven substantial experience of working in a finance department demonstrating experience in a range of accounting areas.
* NHS Finance Department experience; proven experience in a supervisory/management position.
* Commitment to personal delivery of agreed outcomes.
Analytical and Judgement Skills
Essential criteria
* Ability to analyse and interpret highly complex financial matters, clarifying key points of issue.
* Proven track record of working to and delivering multiple objectives within tight deadlines.
* To be able to review finance department processes and procedures and develop plans with other finance staff to improve the working of the department.
Planning Skills
Essential criteria
* Ability to work under pressure.
* Demonstrate proactive initiative with examples resulting in an improvement to historical working practices and areas of self‑improvement without specific management request.
* Embrace change viewing it as an opportunity to learn and develop.
Management Skills
Essential criteria
* Experience of managing staff to meet reporting deadlines as set out in Finance Department timetables.
* To be able to use initiative, work with minimal supervision and manage a small team.
Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Trust Values
* Able to provide safe, caring, and effective services.
* Values and behaviours that reflect the Trust values of Care, Respect and Responsibility.
* Commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that is free from discrimination and where people feel they belong and their contribution is valued.
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